Collection Title: California Lettersheets from the Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western American Pictorial Material,

Date: 1850-1869

Collection Number: BANC PIC 1963.002:1-194

Collector:
Honeyman, Robert B.

Extent:
194 lettersheets; various sizes
192 digital objects

Repository:
The Bancroft Library. University of California, Berkeley.

Berkeley, California 94720-6000

Languages Represented:
English

Information for Researchers

Access

Restricted originals. Use viewing prints only, available at Reference Desk. Use of originals only by permission of the Curator
of Pictorial Collections, The Bancroft Library.

Publication Rights

Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted
in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.

Copyright restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted
to research and educational purposes.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item],
California Lettersheets from the Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western American Pictorial Material,
1850-1869,
BANC PIC 1963.002:1-194, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.

Title:California Pictorial Lettersheets from the Collection of Henry H. Clifford,

Identifier/Call Number: BANC PIC 1995.016--B

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information

The Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. collection was purchased in 1964.

Background

The Robert B. Honeyman Jr. Collection of Early Californian and Western American Pictorial Material comprises more than 2000
items assembled by this private collector through the early 1960s. Honeyman and his agents (notably Warren Howell of John
Howell Books in San Francisco) assembled the collection which was housed for years in a private museum at Honeyman's Rancho
Los Cerritos near Mission San Juan Capistrano. The collection was purchased by The Bancroft Library in 1964. Honeyman's collection
primarily emphasizes the pictorial interpretation of the West, but also includes a variety of printed materials, ephemera,
and manuscript material. Pictorial material includes fine oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, lithographs, engravings, etchings,
maps, charts, lettersheets, and other formats. All illustrate early California and the Old West, the majority dating before
1900.

The collection includes the earliest surviving drawings of any scene in California done during the visits of Alejandro Malaspina's
expedition in 1791 and 1792. Other early voyages and explorations of California include Captain Vancouver's expedition in
1792 or 1794, Nikolai Rezanov's expedition in 1806, and Otto von Kotezebue's expedition in 1816.

Many well-known painters of the West are represented in the collection, as noted by Susana Bryant Dakin in a brochure produced
by The Friends of The Bancroft Library in 1963 to aid in fundraising for the purchase of the collection:

Well-known painters of the West... are represented by oils and watercolors and drawings in the collection. Charles Christian
Nahl may be considered the most important resident artist of the early American period in California history. Besides a sketch-book,
dated 1853 and 1854, Mr. Honeyman managed to acquire five Nahl oils, including the beautiful and exciting
Incident on the Chagres River. A watercolor by Charles Russell,
The War Party, is small but prime quality. Alexander Edouart's
Blessing of the Enrequita Mine, New Almaden, in the Year 1859 is a superb documentary of an important mining activity. There is a magnificent oil painting of
Mokelumne Hill by A. D. O. Browere; and impressive scenes by the French artist E. E. Narjot de Francheville, an early arrival on the West
Coast, attracted by news of gold.

On and on--the viewer becomes entranced by the brushwork and romantic concepts, no less than literal renderings of the primitive
scene, by such as Albert Bierstadt, Augusto Ferran, Alfred Jacob Miller, Jules Tavernier, William B. McMurtrie, Charles Wimar,
Joseph Lee, Thomas Hill, William Keith--along with others who attracted public attention for the first time in a Honeyman
exhibition...

Much of the artwork is described in Joseph Armstrong Baird's
Catalogue of Original Paintings, Drawings, and Watercolors in the Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection (1968). Books in the collection have been cataloged by the library in the call number range
F591.H72.A--Z. Manuscript materials have been cataloged and classified separately with the provenance noted and traced (under the catalog
entry,
Honeyman, Robert B.; Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. Collection).

(Sources: Dakin, Susana Bryant.
The Honeyman Collection of Early Californian and Western American Pictorial Material : a Project of The Friends of the Bancroft
Library
. Berkeley, Calif. : The Bancroft Library, 1963.

Mills, Paul. "Collection of Robert B. Honeyman, Jr." In
California Pictorial 1800-1900; an Exhibition of Two Parts: the Collection of Robert B. Honeyman, Jr. and Paintings by William
Keith
. Santa Barbara, Calif. : Santa Barbara Museum of Art, 1962.)

Scope and Content

This portion of the Robert B. Honeyman collection consists of 194 pictorial lettersheets produced between the years 1850 and
1869, the bulk dating from the 1850s. A variety of places, events, and topics are depicted. City and landscapes, Gold Rush
scenes, and events of the day (fires, hangings, executions, etc.) are most commonly pictured. Scenes and events in San Francisco
predominate. Other places featured include Sacramento, Marysville, Sutter's Mill, Yreka, and other California towns. The medium
of the bulk of the illustrations are wood engravings or lithographs, featuring the work of the likes of Britton & Rey, the
Nahl Brothers, George Baker, Kuchel & Dresel, and others.

Arrangement Note

The entries in the container listing are similar in format to those in Joseph Armstrong Baird Jr.'s
California's Pictorial Letter Sheets, 1849-1869 (San Francisco, David Magee, 1967). Baird is an excellent source for additional information about many (but not all) individual
lettersheets in the collection. The format is:

1963.002:1--B
Assassination of James King of Wm. By James P. Casey. San Francisco, May 14th, 1856.
San Francisco : Britton & Rey, 1856.
4 lithographs; 12 x 17 cm. each
Four illustrations. Down left to right: Assassination, Funeral of Js. King, Surrender of the Jail, Execution. An account of
the shooting and execution is printed center.

Container Listing

:1--B
Assassination of James King of Wm. By James P. Casey. San Francisco, May 14th, 1856.
San Francisco: Britton & Rey, 1856.
4 lithographs, 12 x 17 cm. each
Down left to right: Assassination, Funeral of Js. King, Surrender of the Jail, Execution. An account of the shooting and execution
is printed center.

:2--B
Execution of James P. Casey and Charles Cora, By The Vigilance Committee, of San Francisco, on Thursday, May 22d, 1856, from
the Windows of their Rooms, in Sacramento Street, between Front and Davis Streets.
Huestis. For sale by M. Ullmann, Corner of Sansome and Washington Streets, San Francisco.
4 Wood engravings
Down left to right: Execution of James P. Casey and Charles Cora, By The Vigilance Committee, of San Francisco, on Thursday,
May 22d, 1856, from the Windows of their Rooms, in Sacramento Street, between Front and Davis Streets, 10 x 18 cm.; James
P. Casey, Charles Cora, Yankee Sullivan, EDW M'Gowan 7 x 19 cm.; Assassination of James King of William 7 x 14 cm.; Surrender
of Jas. P. Casey
10 x 19 cm.

:7--A
Capt. Sutter's account of the first discovery of the Gold; Portait [sic] of Mr. Marshal [sic], Taken From Nature at the Time
When He Made the Discovery of Gold In California; View of Sutter's Mill or Place Where the First Gold Has Been Discovered.
San Francisco: Britton & Rey, 1854
Lithograph

:32--A
Execution of James P. Casey & Charles Cora, The Vigilance Committee of San Francisco, on Thursday, July 22nd, 1856, from the
windows of their rooms, in Sacramento Street, Between Front And Davis.
Huestis (in block l.l.)
For sale at M. Ullmann's
Town Talk Print
Wood engraving; 10 x 18 cm.

:34--A
Explosion Of
The American Eagle on the San Joaquin River 25 Miles below Stockton Oct 1, 1853 / Explosion of the Steamer Stockton on Suisun Bay Oct. 18, 1853.
San Francisco: Britton & Rey
2 Lithographs; 12 x 19 cm.: Explosion of the
American Eagle, Explosion of the Steamer
Stockton
2 copies, one on blue wove, one on grey wove

:36--A
A Fight With A Grizly [sic]: Surprise & first shot; Getting to Close Quarters; The Death Struggle; The Rescue.
San Francisco: Britton & Rey
4 Lithographs; 11 x 13 cm.
2 copies, one on white wove, one on blue wove

:38--B
The First Trial and Execution in San Francisco on the Night of 10th of June at 2 O'Clock.
San Francisco: Del. after the nature by W.C.K., Pub. & Lith. Justh Quirot & Co.
Lithograph; 21 x 27 cm. with letter beneath.

:64--A
James King of William - The Patriot Martyr of California / Portrait of Mr. King After Death Showing the Entrance and Exit
of the Fatal Ball.
[N.p.]: James M. Hutchings, 1856
2 Wood engravings; James King of William - Patriot Martyr of California, 12 x 10 cm.; Portrait of Mr. King After Death, Showing
the Entrance And Exit Of The Fatal Ball, 10 x 14 cm.

:99--A
The Mining Business in Four Pictures: In To It; Making Something; Making Nothing; Going Out Of It.
San Francisco: Britton & Rey
4 Lithographs; 10 x 12 cm.
2 copies: one on white wove, one on blue wove

:115--A
The Revolution of the People, the County Jail in San Francisco Beseiged [sic] by the Three Thousand Citizen Soldiers, Armed
and Equipped Surrender of James P. Casey & Charles Cora, to the Vigilance Committee, on Sunday May 18th, 1856.
For sale at M. Ullmann's
Heustis [in block, l.r.]
Wood engraving; 10 x 19 cm. Blue wove

:116--A
The Revolution of the People, the County Jail in San Francisco Beseiged [sic] by the Three Thousand Citizen Soldiers, Armed
and Equipped Surrender of James P. Casey & Charles Cora, to the Vigilance Committee, on Sunday May 18th, 1856
For sale at M. Ullmann's
Huestis [in block, l.r.]
Wood engraving; 10 x 19 cm.
White wove

:159--A
View of the Conflagration from Telegraph Hill. San Francisco, night of May 3rd, 1851, / [below] Map of the Burnt District
of San Francisco. Showing the extent of the Fire./ Buildings saved marked thus.
Noisey Carrier [stamped]
Lithograph; 14 x 21 cm.

:161--A
A View of the...
San Francisco: Cook & Le Count
Pen lithograph; 26 x 20 cm. [overall]
Includes 9 illustrations: down left: The Eliza Ship for California; Arrival at S.F. A Monte Bank; Travelling about the Mines;
down center: Camping Out; A View of The [Elephant]; Miners preparing their Fodder; [down right] Washing Gold in a Cradle;
One of the few that return; The End of the Many

:162--A
A View of the...
San Francisco: Cook & Le Count
Pen lithograph in gold ink; 26 x 20 cm. [overall]
Includes 9 illustrations: down left: The Eliza Ship for California; Arrival at S.F. A Monte Bank; Travelling about the Mines;
down center: Camping Out; A View of The [Elephant]; Miners preparing their Fodder; [down right] Washing Gold in a Cradle;
One of the few that return; The End of the Many

:168--A
View of the last great Conflagration in San Francisco on the 22nd of June 1851. Ten Squares burned, Loss $3,000,000. View
from the head of California Street during the progress of the fire.
San Francisco: Justh Quirot & Co.
Lithograph; 19 x 27 cm.

:184--A
The Wreck of the
Yankee Blade, as she apeared [sic] on the evening of October 1st, 1854. From a drawing made upon the spot by one of the passengers, A.T.
Harrison.
[San Francisco]: Britton & Rey
Lithograph; 14 x 24 cm.

:189--B
Bummer and Lazarus, the Damon and Pythias of San Francisco. Their lives and their deaths. Their separation and their final
reunion in the dog star-- the place where good dogs go. An elegiac, satirical poem by Trem.
Calif. : Edward Jump, 1865.
E. Jump [on stone, l.r.]
Lithograph; 16 x 19 cm.